


A Hunt Unlike Any Other

by Bandit_Unit_number_4045, Kat_the_Hetalia_fan



Category: No Fandom
Genre: Blood, Gen, Insanity, Inspired by Music, It's not Hollow Knight so shut up, Murder, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:35:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26368039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bandit_Unit_number_4045/pseuds/Bandit_Unit_number_4045, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kat_the_Hetalia_fan/pseuds/Kat_the_Hetalia_fan
Summary: Inspired by The Romanovs' "White Flag", two hunters are pitted against each other to kill their game. What started as any other hunt quickly devolves into hunter vs prey, but who is the hunter, and who is the prey?You’ll raise your white flag if you know what’s good for you,Maybe last lifetime, you got away,But you’ll raise your white flag if you know what’s good for you,This time I got a bit more than my fangs.And you'll raise your white flag if life is your game





	A Hunt Unlike Any Other

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to hear the song this was inspired by first, here's the link: https://youtu.be/5OGXP_W6NC0  
> We guarantee you this song is really good.  
> Now, without further ado, enjoy the story.

"You ready to hunt?" Arin asked, hunting rifle on the ready.

"Yeah, I'm set." Merryl faked a smile for him, reluctant on the inside. He took even that stupid bait.

Another day, another hunting session, but it's all just the same. He tracks, she stalks, and then they trap their big game together. It may be entertaining for Arin, but for her... She’s grown tired of the same routine over and over.

Merryl wanted more. She wanted to turn their hunting session into something else. Something that would fulfill her need. A unique, interesting hunt would do it. But, what should she hunt?

He noticed her eyes dazed at the forest, pondering what thoughts she could be thinking. Arin just wanted to have food for their home, fill hungry mouths and earn some trophy head for the 50th time this year.

"Hey, you alright?" He lightly shook Merryl, attempting to grab ahold of her attention   


She jumped a little as she was shaken out of her thoughts, turning to look at him, "Y-Yeah, sorry about that, I guess I was just lost in my own head." She chuckled weakly, but he seemed to buy it anyway, thankfully.

He nodded, "Alright, if you say so. Come on, let's get going, dinner isn't going to hunt itself!" He started walking through the forest, and she followed behind Arin, sighing quietly.

Through the trek of the woods, there were many animals that could be tracked. But, a certain trail had caught his attention. A stag, possibly tiptoeing among the trees, or maybe finding a spot to drink.

"I got something..." Arin kneeled, inspecting the trail, "I can definitely tell that this is going to be a great hunt now." He grinned, excited to find their game.

She was still staying close, not looking over the hooves, but instead, she was studying him, thinking of how she will execute the plans floating around her head.

"Why don't you go ahead and find this deer, my Dear?" She got a chuckle from him, amused at Merryl’s play on words, "I'll hang back, don't worry."

"Actually, we need to stay close together so we won't get lost." He suggested, turning to her with a smile, unaware of her plans.

She rolled her eyes, "You're fully aware that I know these forests better than you do, right?" She smiled at him, hiding her thoughts behind the veneer of playful teasing.

Her partner huffed, "I get lost  _ one  _ time and you never let me forget it..." Arin sighed, "Fine, but don't fall too far behind, okay?" He got up and started walking into the forest, her expression changing once he wasn't looking any more.

She could raise her rifle, aim at him from point blank and  **BAM** ! But, of course, that would ruin the fun. So she tried to lower the adrenaline fueling her senses and keep composed, taking deep breaths.

After some time, his gut feeling proved to be true: the stag was drinking from the stream peacefully, blissfully unaware of the two strangers in close proximity. Arin raised his hand up, signaling her to keep quiet and low. Her partner then gestured at the deer, prompting her to shoot it.

" _ Here's my chance... Let the games begin. _ " Her mind announced, with her gun aimed at him.

He turned back and saw his partner's actions, highly questioning it, "What are you doing?!" He whispered harshly.

Merryl couldn't help but grin as she kept the gun aimed at him, "I'm giving you a ten second head start."

"What-?!" She couldn't be serious, was she really going to-!

"Ten, nine, eight..."

Oh god, she was... Without thinking anything beyond that, Arin got up and started running as fast as he could, startling the deer and causing it to run off in the opposite direction, but her attention was fully on her prey, her  _ human _ prey. She continued her count, staying true to her word.

"Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one! Ready or not, here I come!" And with that she went off into the woods, following the tracks he had left behind.

A Stalker against a Tracker; their skills decently matched, though one had the upper hand due to starting the game and the other hiding with fear.

A tree couldn't provide much cover, but it was a decent spot to briefly rest… and to try to comprehend what has gotten into his partner's mind. Arin pondered a little too long and heard gunfire, sounding too close for comfort.

Merryl didn't need a tracker to find her prey, for her partner left footprints in the dirt.

"Oh, Dear, you're just making this too easy. You do know you can hide your trail~ Do you want me to give you another chance to run~?" She tiptoed towards the tree, confident that her big game was behind.

Without thinking, Arin bolted from the tree as fast as he could, his mind still in a state of panic as he tried and failed to understand why his partner had so suddenly turned on him. Had he done something to upset her? If so, what did he do to deserve this harsh punishment?

The truth, there was nothing he had done to upset Merryl, she was just bored of the same old prey over and over again, and he had been at the right place at the wrong time.

Another gunshot went off, Arin instinctively ducking as he ran from his pursuer, the person he had trusted for a long time.

Merryl grinned, the adrenaline and excitement flowing through her veins as she easily followed Arin’s foot prints, shooting at him whenever she had a clear shot. They’d brought plenty of ammo, so even though she had just missed she wasn’t worried. After all, the fun had just started~

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" He ducked once more from a gun shot as he hid behind another tree, the rush of anxiety going through Arin’s body. On top of that, he was trying to calm his nerves and understand why this situation between them had occurred, "If you don't stop this, I'm shooting you back!" He loudly announced, hoping that would make Merryl rethink her decision.

"Go ahead, I've wanted some big game to fight back anyway~" She disregarded his warning, waiting for him to peek his head out.

The moment Arin barely moved his head past his hiding situation, she shot at him. He moved back behind the tree, covering his ears as the sound of the gunshot rang through them, “I-I mean it, I’ll really shoot back at you!”   
  
“Like I said, go ahead~” She grinned more and started walking closer, being careful not to make any sound with her steps as she did. Merryl wanted to see the look of fear on his face as close-up as possible.

When the ringing had stopped, he swiftly and irrationally grabbed her rifle, starting a struggle to fight for the gun. Though her aiming stance was ready to shoot, her trigger finger was not on its spot, letting this fight occur.

"Let the fucking gun go, Merryl!" He pointed her rifle upwards, possibly risking their ears to start ringing again if it went off.

"Oh, you're scared, Arin. Yet your adrenaline is making you fight back~" 

"Enough of this bullshit, just stop it already!!"

“No way, this is far too fun!” Merryl’s grin was a cross between sadistic, and psychotic. The enjoyment she was getting out of this was beyond any hunt she had ever been on, and the fight they were currently having was the culmination of that enjoyment.

Something else was slowly growing in Arin. It was no longer anxiety or fear, but anger instead. His grip on the gun tightened as he pushed her back, knocking Merryl to the ground. 

He pinned her on the dirt, pulling out a knife and aimed for Merryl's heart. She resisted and held the knife back, the two entering another struggle.

"I said, 'enough is enough'. Can you  **fucking** understand that?" Arin glared at his partner, only getting an admirable look from her.

"Aww, look at you. Think you wanted this hunt much more than me~" Though her tone was soothing, Merryl's strength focused on the knife, the tip tearing her shirt and poking her flesh despite her resistance.

“Fuck! YOU!” Arin was getting a wild look in his eyes as his anger and desperation built up in him as he tried to push the knife down into Merryl, drawing a drop of blood from her.   
  
“You should’ve asked me sooner~” She managed to get her foot up, kicking Arin away before scrambling on top of him, attempting to pull the knife from Arin’s hand to use it against him instead.

It was Arin's turn to resist the knife being buried into his flesh, rage stirring up like a storm as their tug of war for the weapon continued.

"Knock this off so I can jab this right in your  **goddamn** throat!" Arin shouted with a sharp glare; his previous scared, anxiety-induced state was now completely gone from his system.

She laughed loudly, a manic grin on her face, “And end this so soon? Where’d be the fun in that~?” Merryl pressed the knife down as hard as she could, trying to get the knife into Arin, “This is the best hunt we’ve ever done~”

Arin’s mind shut down, turning almost animalistic as he tried to fight off his attacker, “Just fucking DIE!” he growled out at her.

In a split moment, Merryl saw through his eyes. Arin was no longer Arin, but a different person now, a pissed off madman.

Her wondering shifted back to reality as Merryl heard a groan from him, grazing Arin's chest. Though not deep, it was enough to make him bleed.

" **ENOUGH!!** " As if blurting that word gave him strength, Arin moved the sharp weapon off of him and punched her hand hard, causing her to drop the knife. He rushed to take advantage and shoved Merryl back with great force, seeing nothing but a victim in his rage.

Without missing a beat, nor giving mercy in this matter, Arin repeatedly jabbed and slashed all over Merryl's body, drawing out blood and screams from the other.

Merryl kept screaming, though her voice kept getting weaker as she bled out onto the forest floor. She reached up with the last of her strength and attempted to get the knife out of his hands, but was unable to do so. Out of desperation, she started clawing at his face, leaving deep scratches on Arin that he didn’t notice in his rage.

By the time Merryl was finally dead, Arin’s face was a mess of deep scratches and cuts.

He let go of the knife, leaving it wedged into the now lifeless body’s chest like a pincushion. The outcome itself had changed. Despite having an upper hand, Merryl, the one who had asked for the hunt, was the first to go, leaving Arin as the victor.

But… at what cost?

Arin’s senses were numb at this point, not even realizing that he killed his own partner, nor the number of injuries littered all over his face as he leaned back and sat against a tree, still looking at the fresh carcass in front.

"Enough…" He spoke with reluctance.

After some time had passed, and he had caught his breath again, Arin stood up and took a step forward, walking without knowing where he was going or that he had even started walking. Blood trickled down into his eyes, but he didn’t care to notice as he stepped over Merryl’s lifeless body. He just kept walking…

By the time Arin had stopped, the sun was setting. He had walked all the way to the cliff he and Merryl had gone to after their first successful hunt to watch the sunset while they relaxed. The wounds on his face were still bleeding, but they didn’t even hurt anymore. His sight was getting kind of blurry now though, why was that…?   
  
“It’s cause you wore yourself out way too quickly, stupid.” Merryl walked up next to him, a casual grin on her face.   
  
Arin smiled at her, chuckling weakly, “Heheh, yeah, that’s probably it.” He wiped his forehead, looking at the mix of blood and green ooze that his brain didn’t register as abnormal, “You mind if I take a nap…?”   
  
“Not at all, go right ahead.”   
  
“Thanks Merryl, you always… have my back…” And with that, Arin collapsed onto the ground.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, we know this isn't any Hollow Knight stuff, but I want to do something different. And I'm glad Kat went along with this idea. We're testing out some out-of-the-box ideas and this came in my head. Give us opinions and your thoughts about the story, because we gave our best effort for this, as usual. But since it is different, tell us your feedback.


End file.
